Prized Meyer Lemons Make the Party

By Karola Saekel, The San Francisco Chronicle

The spotty phone connection sounded more like it was from Greenland rather than from Reedley, the Fresno County agricultural town. But it may not be the phone company's fault.

"I am out here, making pomegranate jelly," said Art Lang from his barn.

We were calling about Lang's rare commercial crop, Meyer lemons, but this particular day, the retired professor/farmer was making jelly, which is yet another product that attracts a loyal following to his booth at the San Francisco Ferry Plaza market, his main winter destination.

But Lang is always glad to talk about Meyers, the fragrant, thin-skinned citrus fruit that's become something of a California icon. Top chefs swear by the sweet-tart juice and hauntingly fragrant skin of the lemon that's similar to the sweet varieties of the Mediterranean.

For entertaining at home, few ingredients beat the fresh pick-me-up that Meyers can bring to a host of recipes - from a luluscious sorbet to a spunky glaze for salmon to a tart-sweet flourish for an endive salad.

California claims the Meyer as its own, even though it came from China. Its parentage has never been reliably established, so it was named for Frank N. Meyer, an American agricultural researcher who brought it to California in 1908.

At first the easy-to-grow Meyer thrived, but in midcentury, believed to be the main carrier of a dread citrus disease, it became the victim of the agricultural equivalent of a witch hunt. Only after cevelopment of a disease-proof strain did the Meyer regain ground. Still, because of its relative fragility - less than half the shelf life of the sturdy Eureka lemon - it is more of a backyard than a large-scale commercial crop.

Lang, who cultivates 200 kinds of trees and vines on his 17-acre spread and markets their yield under the Honey Crisp and HRI labels, has just 40 Meyer trees but they yield enough - about 160 pounds - to keep his clients supplied during the waning months of the year.

The son of a Pacific Northwest dairy farmer, Lang earned his Ph.D. in plant physiology from the University of California at Los Angeles and has taught in the UC system as well as in Arizona and Hawaii. He has farmed in the Central Valley for 18 years, developing a way of dryin fruit without sulfur.

His is not an organic farm, but is about as close to organic farming as you can get without making a total commitment, and his citrus fruit is never sprayed.

Lang retired from teaching 10 years ago, so life is not as hectic as it once was. "I work no more than 60 hours a week," says the 77-year-old.